A TYRANNICAL KINGDOM. AN OPPRESSED PEOPLE. AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST.

Tempani of Amarill, a young noblewoman of mixed race, dreams of a Kamara united in race and class. Thrust from the convent into court life, Tempani struggles to find her place in a city she no longer recognizes. Starved commoners fight the crown, women have no rights, and her mother’s people hide in the south to avoid persecution. Banned from using her powers, Tempani feels helpless. But her magic is always there. A gentle hum under her skin, threatening to explode the more she sees people suffering.

Things finally start to get interesting- assassins, conspiracies, treason... too bad it's still kinda humdrum.  Only real problem so far is there's no sense of time or distance given. People travel from one place to another in-between paragraphs.

Love is in the air... or is it? The reality of politics begins to intrude upon the young couple's romance and Tempani is, in fact, revealed to be the Chosen One. Shocking, really. Her destiny comes with a price: stay at the palace or hit the road with her rebel friends who believe in her and learn her destiny. Since the prince gets a little drunk and gives her an ultimatum, guess what she decides?

Rioting in the streets at the thought of the Crown Prince marrying beneath his station, to one of THEM! Too bad the author keeps us so disconnected from it.

We finally get an explanation as to why women are forbidden to heal outside of convent walls: a royal betrayal ending with the murder of the king whom many believed was bewitched by the queen. Go figure.  Yet love blooms even as the nation teeters on the brink of rebellion

Tempani receives a dream message from her deceased mother about her magic powers and how their Goddess is growing impatient with her lack of progress and to look for a sign.  In other words- she a Chosen One.

Ok, wait. Suddenly Tempani realizes she has magic and is itching to use it. Up until now it had only been "implied" and she's had no training in it. Plus it'd be an automatic death sentence.

Still too much telling instead of showing. And now she's a Cutter?- slicing herself to relieve tension and anger. This book skips over information and around things a lot.

Seeds of rebellion from the underclass, i.e.- poor whites, and the question of why they and the mountain-dwelling blacks have never joined forces and risen up is asked and answered (they actually did when the realm was under occupation, but then race-baiting drove them apart again). Needs better development; stuff's just getting thrown at the reader